Socio-Economics & History Commentary

RT Published on Jan 14, 2019A US ambassador has reportedly threatened to punish German contributors involved in the multinational Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, and has tried to fan the ‘Russia scare’ to make his point. READ MORE:https://on.rt.com/9m7s

Response to US Global Bullying: Iran, India Ditch Dollar to Continue Trading Oil Despite Sanctionsby Darius Shahtahmasebi, https://www.rt.com/In an effort to circumvent US-imposed sanctions, India and Iran have reportedly ditched the US dollar and are trading oil in rupees. The reason becomes clear after considering the dynamics at play in the region.–In mid-February last year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited India, and the two countries signed nine agreements signalling a strengthening of ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to celebrate the growing relationship, stating that it was “a matter of great pleasure” for India that an Iranian president came to India “after a gap of 10 years.”–Fast-forward a few months later, and then-UN ambassador Nikki Haley was bluntly telling India that they should rethink their relationship with Tehran.–Donald Trump’s decision to rip up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) last year, also known as the Iranian nuclear accord, was a particularly significant blow to Iran-India relations. At the time the JCPOA was formulated, Indian officials believed the deal to be the “best deal available.” After the JCPOA’s implementation in 2016, exports of Iranian oil to India increased by more than 110 percent.–Maybe the issue isn’t always that Washington wants to contain its rivals in theMiddle East and Asia, but perhaps there is a chance that it also wants to keep a lid on its so-called allies as well. Right now, India is the third largest oil consumer in the world, and is expected to become the largest by the year 2040. As its domestic reserves are not meeting the needs of its rapidly expanding economy, India has been importing 80 percent of its oil supply from overseas, including and especially Iran.–read more.

EU Will Soon Establish Alternative Payment Channel Allowing Iran to Bypass US Sanctions – Mogheriniby https://www.rt.com/Brussels will create an alternative payment channel to facilitate financial transactions between the European Union and Iran in the near future to bypass US sanctions, the EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, has announced.–
“I will expect this instrument to be established in the coming weeks before the end of the year as a way to protect and promote legitimate business,” EU’s foreign policy chief told reporters on Monday.–The 28-nation bloc has been considering ways to continue doing business with Tehran and bypass US economic restrictions after Washington pulled out from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed economic sanctions.–read more.

RT America Published on Dec 10, 2018The European Union plans to create an alternative payment channel to facilitate transactions with Iran in the near future to bypass US sanctions, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has announced. RT America’s Dan Cohen has the details.

When the U.S. Want to Sanction States, They Call Them « Terrorists »by Thierry Meyssan, http://www.voltairenet.org/enThe new unilateral sanctions by the United States against Iran, Russia and Syria add to the previous actions concerning the same three targets. They now form the most unforgiving embargo in History. The way in which they have been organised is illegal according to the definition of the Charter of the United Nations – these are weapons of war, designed for killing.–For his visit to Moscow on 8 November, ambassador James Jeffrey was tasked with explaining the current US obsession with the expansion of Persian influence in the Arab world (Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen). Washington now wishes to formulate this question in geo-strategic rather than religious terms (Chiites/Sunni), while Teheran is organising its national defence around forward posts composed of Chiite Arabs.–Moscow then considered the possibility of negotiating on Teheran’s behalf for the easing of unilateral US sanctions, in exchange for its military withdrawal from Syria. President Vladimir Putin confirmed his proposition, not only for his US opposite number, but also for the Israëli Prime Minister, during their meeting in Paris on 11 November for the celebrations marking the centenary of the end of the First World War .–He attempted to convince the Westerners that Russia alone in Syria was preferable to the Irano-Russian tandem. However, he could not guarantee that Iran would have sufficient authority over Hezbollah – as both Washington and Tel-Aviv pretend – to be able to order it to withdraw also.–Washington’s only answer, nine days later, was to announce the eleventh series of unilateral sanctions against Russia since the beginning of August. This was accompanied by a ridiculous speech according to which Russia and Iran had together organised a vast plot aimed at maintaining President Assad in power and expanding Persian control in the Arab world.–This rhetoric, which we believed had been abandoned, assimilates three states (the Russian Federation, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran) as machines in the service of three men (Bachar el-Assad, Ali Khamenei and Vladimir Putin) who are united by the same hatred of their respective peoples. It ignores the massive popular support they enjoy, while the United States are profoundly torn apart.–read more.

China Warns Trade War With US Could Escalate Into ‘Great Depression & World War’by https://sputniknews.com/Washington is considering sanctions against companies and officials linked to China’s alleged crackdown on the country’s minority Muslims.–Speaking to Reuters before heading to join Chinese President Xi Jinping’s delegation at this week’s G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Cui Tiankai said China was going to the Argentinean capital hoping for a deal to ease a damaging trade war with the United States.–Mentioning the two countries’ shared responsibility to cooperate in the interests of the global economy, Cui warned about dire consequences if US hawks try to drive a wedge between the world’s two largest economies.–He drew parallels to the tariff wars the industrial countries fought during the 1930s, resulting in a collapse of global trade and stoking tensions in the run-up to World War Two.–‘The lessons of history are still there. In the last century, we had two world wars, and in between them, the Great Depression. I don’t think anybody should really try to have a repetition of history’, he observed.–Cui Tiankai said China wanted to avoid a trade war and hoped to resolve the impasse caused by US President Donald Trump’s demands for large-scale concessions from Beijing to correct a towering trade deficit with China.–Cui said he did not believe Beijing was seriously considering using its massive US Treasury debt holdings as a trade war weapon, citing concerns that such a move would destabilize financial markets. China is the largest foreign holder of US Treasury debt, with about $15.97 trillion of total public Treasury debt outstanding.–The US-Chinese trade war broke out in July when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on some Chinese imports in order to fix the US-Chinese $500 billion trade deficit.–Since then, the two sides have exchanged several rounds of import duties on each other in spite of numerous attempts to resolve the conflict via dialogue.–read more.

Russia and China Ditching Dollar for National Currencies Payment System to Avoid Sanctionsby https://www.rt.com/Moscow and Beijing are drafting a pact to increase the use of the ruble and the yuan in bilateral and international trade. The countries aim to cut reliance on the US dollar to avoid sanctions targeting financial transactions.–The plan is to launch a new cross-border system for direct payments in national currencies. Discussions are underway to allow the use of China’s UnionPay credit card in Russia and Russia’s Mir card in China, according to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who visited China this month.–
“No one currency should dominate the market, because this makes all of us dependent on the economic situation in the country that issues this reserve currency, even when we are talking about a strong economy such as the United States,” Medvedev said.–He added that US sanctions have pushed Moscow and Beijing to think about the use of their domestic currencies in settlements, something that “we should have done ten years ago.”–“Trading for rubles is our absolute priority, which, by the way, should eventually turn the ruble from a convertible currency into a reserve currency,”the Russian prime minister said.–read more.

RT Published on Nov 22, 2018READ MORE: https://on.rt.com/9iygThe US has introduced sanctions against what it called a network of petroleum shipments to Syria, including Russian and Iranian companies and individuals. Washington says it wants to disrupt shipments to Syrian-owned ports.

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Leaflet: US warning to ISIS terrorists to run away as airstrikes coming, abandon oil trucks. Click on image to goto Department of Defense statement: “.. these are the leaflets that we dropped — about 45 minutes before the airstrikes actually began.”

Iran Urges EU to Accelerate Efforts to Save Nuclear Dealby Shi Yinglun, http://www.xinhuanet.com/TEHRAN, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — Iran is “frustrated” with the slow pace of European Union (EU) to help the country to benefit under its international nuclear deal after U.S. pullout from the accord in May.–Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Tuesday that he was confident that Iran would find markets for oil exports even though the U.S. measures have pushed down Iran’s crude exports sharply.–“There are always markets for oil. It depends on the conditions and the price,” he said, adding that “I believe Iran will always sell oil.”–The U.S. is not living up to its promises and all its sanctions against Iran are unlawful and against the UN Security Council resolutions, he said, adding that the U.S. is not even bound to the commitment it has made. Under these circumstances, EU is expected to speed up the moves to help European companies to continue trade with Iran, Zarif stressed. “What is important is that Europe has made the political commitment but, unfortunately, it has been very slow in practice,” Zarif said.–A clearing house, known as a Special Purpose Vehicle, which designed to allow European companies to bypass the U.S. sanctions, is due to be set up by the EU within the next few months, according to the western media.

RT America Published on Nov 20, 2018The US has imposed an enormous fine on “Societe Generale,” a French bank, for doing business with Cuba and other sanctioned countries. Will it deter future deals, or are such fines merely “the cost of doing business?” Professor of political economy Dr. Jack Rasmus joins Rick Sanchez to weigh in.

PressTV Published on Nov 16, 2018Iran’s Deputy foreign minister says the US sanctions against Tehran primarily undermine Europe’s sovereignty, security and credibility, rather than target the Iranian economy. Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, who is in Madrid to meet high-ranking Spanish officials, said Tehran is waiting to see how Europe defends its sovereignty against U-S pressures. He stressed that the US uses its economic power and the dollar to impose its will on other countries. Araqchi said European companies seem to be taking US orders more seriously than their own governments’. The Iranian diplomat noted that Washington’s decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran is against UN Security Council Resolution 22-31 and a recent verdict by the International Criminal Court.

There does not seem to be a new, revised Iran Nuclear deal. So can’t be a Covenant of 1 week.
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EU Believes No Credible Peaceful Alternative to Iran Nuclear Deal Existsby https://sputniknews.com/BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The European Union believes that there is no credible peaceful alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said.–“There is no credible peaceful alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The deal with Iran is a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture,” Jourova said during a plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday.–Jourova noted that preserving the Iran nuclear deal was a matter of security for the whole global community.–The official added that the European Union did not recognize the US extra-terrestrial sanctions arising from Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA.–“We, Europeans, cannot accept that a foreign power, not even our closest friend and ally, takes decisions over our legitimate trade with another country. The ongoing work, led by France, Germany and the United Kingdom, aims at preserving the full and effective implementation of the Plan of Action in all its aspects and in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” Jourova pointed out. Her speech was broadcast by the European Commission video service.–US President Donald Trump has for a long time been a critic of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama. In May, Trump announced the US withdrawal from the agreement, which ensures the re-imposition of Washington’s sanctions on Iran, over Tehran’s alleged failure to comply with the JCPOA, something denied by Tehran. Two rounds of sanctions have been reintroduced since then, with the large-scale restrictions covering oil exports being slapped on Iran on November 5.–read more.

It does not appear a new Iran Nuclear Deal will happen. No Covenant of 1 week.
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EU Plan Unraveling for Non-Dollar Iran Trade, Oil Sales: Diplomatsby John Irish, Francois Murphy, Robin Emmott, https://www.reuters.com/PARIS/VIENNA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A special European Union initiative to protect trade with Iran against newly reimposed U.S. sanctions faces possible collapse with no EU country willing to host the operation for fear of provoking U.S. punishment, EU diplomats said.–The main European powers – Germany, France and Britain – will raise pressure on Luxembourg to host the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) after Austria refused to manage the plan, threatening its viability.–The EU’s executive promised EU lawmakers on Wednesday to find a solution and said that technical work continued, adding that the bloc would not be cowed by U.S. sanctions.–“We Europeans cannot accept that a foreign power, not even our closest friend and ally, takes decisions over our legitimate trade with another country,” European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, referring to the United States.–The stakes are high, for Iran has warned it could scrap a 2015 accord on curbing its nuclear program reached with world powers, including the big EU trio, if the bloc fails to preserve the deal’s economic benefits against U.S. pressure.–The SPV is a kind of clearing house that could be used to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods in an effective barter arrangement circumventing U.S. sanctions, based on global use of the dollar for oil sales.–The goal was to have the SPV legally in place by this month though not operational until next year, but no country has offered to host it, six diplomats told Reuters. The SPV is seen as the lynchpin of European efforts to salvage the nuclear accord, from which U.S. President Donald Trump – who took office after the pact was clinched – withdrew in May, calling it flawed in Iran’s favor.–read more.